Corruption of the Circle
by ExDraco
Summary: The ages have passed, and a new hero arises to face the new challenge. The ancient force of Soul that flows through the land, most people regard it as 'Magic', but is there more to it? Update: Now accepting OCs!
1. Prologue: Aging Timeline

Hey, all readers! I know it's a little premature to be writing this, with 'The Existence Artifacts' not even reaching 10 chapters and all, but I got this idea a while back and I just couldn't wait to pen it down! Hope you guys enjoy the history!

Corruption of the Circle

Prologue Chapter: Aging Timeline

Zero Era: At the beginning, there was nothing that existed. Not even one cloud of the cosmos, not even one star. Then, one creature appeared out of the cracks of the void. It was nothing like our modern creatures; it wasn't even a pokemon or human. It was simply a flame, a bright yellow one, shining like the sun. Though most would laugh at it and accuse it of being an insignificant being, it was the dawn of all. It was the first sign, the first creature to exist in the void. But, it by itself couldn't bring light to this realm, and thus it turned to the only energy source it could find, the void itself. It absorbed the darkness, purifying every ounce of it and turning it from darkness to light. Growing in size and intensity, its light grew with it. Soon, having absorbed enough energy, it had grown to quite a size, much bigger than your average fireball, and that was the first sun. Spreading its warmth and light across the void, the void began to crack, being surprised by the sudden shining light. In one shot, the first sun burst its energy, chasing the void into a prison dimension, and creating the planets. One by one, each were crafted out of the basic elements: Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Soon, many new planets were created, but the first sun then faced another problem. They were too close to each other, packed together and in danger of collision at any moment. And thus, the sun released its energy one more time, this time creating dimensional rifts, separating the planets into different planes so they wouldn't crash. And with its energy spent, the first sun shrank back to its original size, and went through a rift into its own dimension to recover its lost power.

First Age: Now, we focus on a certain planet, which, was not created by the first sun (I'll refer to it as Polaris, for now.) Polaris created some planets, as well as the dimensions, but this planet wasn't brought into existence by it. At first, in a certain galaxy later known as Alpha- Sector 36, there was a large amount of empty space; all that occupied it were the stars and the occasional meteor which happened to rush by. But, as fate would have it, two planets collided in that exact spot, large amounts of rock and water floated through empty space, until they melded together to form a new planet. This planet's name was Thysia, due to the fact that two planets had given their lives to form it. Its name came from the word 'sacrifice', and it was a planet for heroes. It could've been by the way it was formed, or it could've been just pure dumb coincidence, but through the atmosphere, piercing through the clouds and into the ground, resided a powerful force that flowed through the land called 'Soul'. Legends say that it was because at the exact moment when Thysia was formed, a portion of Polaris' power seeped through the rifts, and the crashing amount of elements trapped the energy, which soon fused with the planet. At first, the planet was nothing but a wasteland, though air gusted through the planet and the world was filled with land and water, there was no sign of life, not even a pinch of grass grew from the lands. That was how Thysia was like in its early ages.

Second Age: Finally, after the first age ended, Polaris had recovered its lost power, and seeing how a portion of his energy was already fused with the planet, it seemed to have a connection with it. Noticing that Thysia was devoid of life, it sacrificed some more energy, this time used to create life. But the first creatures on Thysia were nothing sophisticated; they were simply life energy fused with the four elements that already existed in Thysia. They were known as 'Elementals', and they populated Thysia during the second age. The fire elementals situated themselves near the volcanic areas, while the aqua elementals were found underneath the sea. The air elementals flew up to sky palaces, while the down-to-earth' elementals settled on land. There was, at first a couple of thousand years of peace and prosperity, and the elementals mingled occasionally, good times reigned during this period. Then that period ended, the elementals soon gained the advanced forms of emotions, some bad and some good. One of those particular bad emotions was greed, and soon they discovered the elemental powers that they wielded, going to war to fill the holes in their hearts. The four elementals fought fiercely in an all-out global battle royale, each form of elementals killing the other. This period was named 'Regelium', where the elementals slaughtered each other and many of the early life forms were eliminated. But it seemed fate had to bend the strings once again, and on the day Polaris came back to see how Thysia was coming along, it witnessed with its own eyes the chaos that it had wrought by bringing elementals to life. Overcome with guilt, Polaris decided to end this race once and for all, and spent the next week, gathering the void dimension's energy, compressing into a ball. And on that final day for the elementals, they were still fighting fiercely, the four elementals battling it out on the center continent. Then, just as the fire elementals seemed to be winning the fight, Polaris released the energy it had stored, and the blast shot straight into the center continent, using the void as a medium; Polaris had created a giant vortex to suck all of the elementals in. This spell was known as 'Erasure Circle', and easily erased all of the elementals. But since it was using the void as a medium, it didn't just suck in the elementals, but the base elements that made up Thysia were slowly heading to oblivion as well. And the energy it used to create the Erasure Circle had not been restored, so Polaris sealed it instead of destroying it, creating 4 sealing stones to hold up the sealing formation and finally went back to recover its lost energy once again.

Third Age: The Erasure Circle was sealed, and Thysia enjoyed an era of peace, but there was no life on Thysia to enjoy it. And since Polaris had used up all of its energy to create and seal the Erasure Circle, it had none left to replenish the lost life. This time, fate meddled in Thysia's affairs again, this time cutting the strings that held together the dimensional walls, causing cracks to open between the planes. Rifts began to emerge, and vortexes were created as the walls between dimensions grew weaker and weaker. But, Thysia was Polaris' pride and joy, and though it was forced to destroy the elementals, he would not let Thysia perish. So, it created the human race, using the energy from one of the dimensions it had first created, and the idea from another. The humans, in worship of Polaris, searched for a way to close the rifts and repair the dimensional walls. Polaris, seeing that the humans couldn't do it alone, he helped in secret, granting the ability to utilize the ancient power of 'Soul' to one boy, whose life he felt had no meaning. His particular Soul manifested into a form called Rift Soul, which allowed him to create portals in space. Journeying through Thysia, he soon found a way to fix things once and for all. He activated the sealing stones in the four continents, re-opening the Erasure Circle, and at that point Polaris feared it had chosen the wrong successor. But its doubts were unwarranted. Though the Erasure Circle had been reopened, the hero soon found his way to the center of the circle's formation, and pierced the circle with his blade, thrusting the power of his Rift Soul into it and reversing its effects. The Erasure Circle, which had once been used for destruction, was now reversing the flow and closing up the gaps and rifts, soon fixing all of the walls. In addition, it gave Thysia life, grass and trees flooded the lands as the shining light of the reversed circle was released. Eventually, Polaris resealed the Erasure Circle, knowing that if it stayed open for too long it would execute its original purpose: destruction. Polaris left, leaving Thysia as it was since mankind had proved its worth to it.

Fourth Age: Mankind prospered, and a new concept called technology arose, giving mankind the ability to 'invent' new objects. The first technological items, such as the simple everyday watch and more dangerous items like guns were created to give mankind some protection against whatever unknown forces were still out there. The hero of the third age had long since perished, but his bloodlines still existed, hiding out from the rest of the world in a certain village as Soul users. Many new forms of Soul were discovered during this period, such as the elemental Souls. Peace, like the other ages, didn't last long. The rifts were opened once more, this time out of fate's control, by creature known as demons. Some were disgusting creatures that belonged to a species called 'Chaos Demons', while others were human-like, with wings or other features, that belonged to another species called 'Void Demons'. Regardless of their sub-species, the demons invaded Thysia together, having infinitely more greed burned in their hearts (wait, do demons have hearts?) than elementals, hoping to conquer another world for themselves. Due to their demonic origins and their dark protection abilities, Polaris was sealed in its dimension and unable to help out this time. Humans took up their new technological weapons, and fought valiantly against the demons. Even the Soul users, who normally wouldn't interfere with the world's problems, fought against the demons, upholding the legacy of the hero of the third age. Mankind fought bravely, but they were ultimately no match for the demons, who had a natural lust and ability for battle. Mankind fell, and the demons took over Thysia; Polaris was forced to stand back and watch as all of these horrible events took place, and the era of 'Aeon' came.

Fifth Age: Demons had ravaged Thysia, turning its beautiful landscape to that of a hellish environment. Their constant lust for battle had destroyed most of the continents to less than that of their basic elements. The demons' lust for power also led them to turn to the ancient force of Soul, but fortunately, the demons who attempted to utilize the power of Soul couldn't control the energy, and perished within a number of days. Since, the demons have feared the power of Soul, leaving it to sleep within the land as the raging battles continued. Thysia no longer looked like its old self, fires burning down the plant life and the air polluted to the maximum by toxic air. The demons could not be allowed to ravage Thysia any further, otherwise it would've been blown to bits and shattered, scattering the basic foundations of Thysia across the galaxy. Polaris, who was still sealed inside its dimension, watched each passing day with a deep sense of incompetence. There wasn't anything it could do, the bindings used to seal it were constantly keeping his energy to a minimum, just enough so it could watch the torturous events on Thysia. Then, idea struck. Out of all the scenes that it had witnessed, it was particularly interested in the scenes where the demons died upon being exposed to Soul. Thus, it used what remaining strength it had, and tapped into the void dimension's power, converting it into his power and overloading the binding chains, causing them to crack and shatter. With newfound rage, he manipulated the eternal force of the land, and erupted the force of Soul. The demons came into contact with the Soul, and soon were completely eliminated from Thysia.

Sixth Age: Life was all but naught in Thysia once more. This time, Polaris contemplated deeply about bringing life back to Thysia. Every time Polaris decided to restore life to Thysia, a dark event would take place and shatter all of it again. Thankfully, Polaris didn't have to make the decision. Fate butted in once more, this time shattering the walls completely, plunging Thysia into complete chaos. Overcome with worry, Polaris itself came down to Thysia, and began using his powers to close up the dimensional rifts, save one. He had overlooked one rift, and on the other side, was the pokemon world. It was thriving much better than Thysia, but it had one problem. The heat of the planet was dying, and the seas were all dried up, leaving nothing but wastelands behind. The air had become too toxic for both humans and another species of creatures called Pokemon. The rift remained, and fate played it so that Thysia would trade with the pokemon world. Thysia, though lifeless, was still able to support itself with strong foundations. Thysia traded over its basic elements, and healed the pokemon world's vitality. The airs became clear again, the seas, lakes and ponds were re-filled with water and the heat of the planet was restored. In exchange, and to keep the balance, pokemon were sent over from the other world, and they were the first pokemon on Thysia.

Seventh Age: Pokemon thrived on Thysia, with their natural abilities and peace-loving natures, brought prosperity to Thysia, something no elemental or human could do. Yes, occasionally there were squabbles among the pokemon, but nothing major enough for Polaris to sentence the pokemon race to oblivion. Pokemon populated Thysia, and rediscovered ancient abilities. The first was that of Technology, which was first created by humans. Pokemon brought Technology to new heights, creating new gadgets such as the PDA, and the holographic concept. Later, as Pokemon began to settle down into Thysia and life became normal, pokemon rediscovered the ancient art of Soul, and thankfully the Soul did not eliminate them. The Soul willingly fused with the bodies of pokemon, and they became the staple life forms of Thysia. But that was not to last. Driven by rage and hatred, the demons made a major comeback, this time aiming to eliminate and raze Thysia completely. However, they underestimated the extent of the pokemon's abilities. They utilized the Soul to 'Perfect Aura', which was the highest level of Soul usage one could achieve. With their powers, they fought hard against the demons, and soon declared the war over, with the pokemon on the victorious side. Polaris looked down on Thysia, and finally came to the conclusion that pokemon were the perfect life for Thysia after all.

Eighth Age: This is the current age, where pokemon thrive along with technology and Soul, and we focus the beginning of a great adventure, another struggle, for a young pokemon.

How was that? Not bad for a second fanfic prologue chapter, if I do say so myself. I loved writing down this historical timeline. Read & Review! Oh, and the OC form will probably placed in chapter 1, which hopefully isn't going to take long. My major exams are coming really soon, so it might not be so fast when the next chapter of this fanfic will be out. Then I still have 'The Existence Artifacts' to write, and… oh, what the heck, I'm getting too long-winded. 


	2. Chapter 1: Soul of Time

Sorry for making you guys wait so long for the first chapter! I know that you guys have probably been waiting for a long time in anticipation to finally see how the story kicks off, and once again I apologize for making you guys wait.  
P.S. I actually thought about putting the 'hiatus' sign on the stories, but I never found the time to do so, so I apologize (once again).  
P.P.S. Relax, I'm not going to give up on 'The Existence Artifacts' just yet!

Corruption of the Circle

Chapter 1: Soul of Time

-?-

Lightning flashed through the night sky, accompanied by the deafening crashes of thunder. The rain seemed to be an endless onslaught, clearly showing absolutely no sign of letting up. The howling wind drove the nearby trees to near destruction, the storm creating a dark level of pure chaos. I walked through the forest, just managing to ignore the prickly feeling of the rain battering against my skin, as I headed deep into the forest where the dream told me to go.

Chaos reigned this time, not even a flicker of light managing to penetrate the darkness of the shadowing clouds. Every time the bolt flashed, it would light up the entire area, as if the very light of existence was flickering. If I wasn't who I was, I would have already have hightailed it out of the forest and gone back crying to my mom; if I had any, that is. My parents were killed when I was… well, you get the drift. I hadn't seen them in almost 10 years and the whole time the only person who was by my side was my older brother. But even this I could not confide in him, it was simply too important.

To be honest, I had told him about the dream I had, but he said to just forget about it and wrote me off. Of course, as the dream began to become more and more frequent, I just couldn't abide by my brother's words and forget about it. When I had suggested to him that I come into the forest to search, he was so shocked that he almost fell off the roof that we were sleeping on. For this forest's name was called Arcana (I know, this was the currency of Stylish's stories, just humor me), loosely translated as the Forest of Mysteries. Why? It was called that due to the fact that when people went in, most never came out for at least a couple of years. And when they did come back, they had completely lost their minds, constantly rambling about a bunch of useless nonsense of what had happened to them. Most of which, didn't make a tiny bit of sense.

Ever since, no one had dared to venture into the forest of fear of meeting the same fate. Because of that, the reason they had gone mad remained a mystery, thus the name. But no matter how hard my brother had tried, I just couldn't shake the feeling that something, or someone was calling me to that very place, and that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't resist. So, when my brother had fallen into deep sleep, I snuck away and ventured into the forbidden forest. Now I regret that decision.

The fact that the weather that night was simply not agreeing with me was bad enough, combine that with the fact that I had been in this forest for about 2 hours, the rain was starting to annoy me. Though on the bright side, it was a good way of getting dirt out of my skin and it did feel pretty good during the first half-hour, but that's beside the point. I was getting nowhere with my search, and nothing was giving me a hint of where to go.

I was about to go back and finally give up on this relentless, yet useless search, when I realized that I was lost! I knew I shouldn't have ventured so deep into the forest. Since I was trapped anyway, I decided that I could do nothing but keep on walking. Hopefully, I would eventually find a way out, unlike all of the others. My mind raced with terrible thoughts that did absolutely nothing to cheer me up, scenes of me being trapped here for 3~4 years and going mad flashed through my head, and I was so deep into those thoughts that I didn't notice the tree root that I was walking straight to and I tripped over it. On the bright side, I snapped out of it and managed to pick myself off the ground. As I was trying to use the rainwater to was the mud off, I spotted something gleam in my eye. It was hidden in the mud, and yet it was shining brighter than anything that was inside this treacherous forest.

I searched through the mud, and though some people might find it disgusting, I did not. I had done this thousands of times that it was almost (keyword: ALMOST) second nature to me. It took some digging, but eventually I found what I was looking for: A blue diamond. It was shining dimly, as if its light had been snuffed out for far too long. I ran through the forest, a feeling coming over me that compelled me to rush to an area where the rain wouldn't be impeded by the thick branches of trees. Eventually, I came to a clearing, and held the gem high so the rain could wash it.

Soon, the mud began trickling off, and the gem began to pulsate again. It shone a beautiful sky blue, and the light was so mesmerizing…

-?-

I walked through the hallway that I knew would lead to the throne room. My knight armor made me receive respect as I walked through, since early in the morning there wouldn't be many soldiers awake yet, but a select few early birds were lounging throughout the castle. Can't blame them, even the princess is probably not awake yet. Click, clack, my boots made those sounds as I walked through the hallway, passing by many famous artworks drawn by famous Oriental artists. Soon, I reached the entrance of the throne room; there, I was greeted by two soldiers that were taking the morning shift of guarding the place.

"Good morning, sir!" They said in unison as I approached, placing their hands over their chests as a sign of respect. The two guards were both Dewotts, and it did make sense to put nimble pokemon as guards.

I halted in my place, replying, "At ease, soldiers. There's no need for formalities when it's only me."

"What brings you to the throne room so early this morning, sir?" One of them asked.

"I have been summoned by the king. Which reminds me, I should be going, I don't want to keep the king waiting. Keep up the good work."

"Yes, sir!" They replied, once again showing their utmost respect.

From inside, I heard the king's trusted advisor say, "Knight of Fire, Blaze, is here!"

The king then said, "Let him in."

I walked in as soon as the gigantic doors opened, and once I reached the last step I was to take, I place my hand over my chest as respect for the king, and said, "Knight of Fire, Blaze Missile has heard your summons and answered your call."

"At ease, Knight of Fire."

"Thank you, sir," lowering my hand and placing it at my side once more, "I would like to ask as to why you have summoned me today, sir."

"Yes. I have summoned you today because I have an important mission for you to carry out."

"And what might that be, sir?"

"I would like you to help Commander Azail in training the new recruits. He could use your help down at the barracks." Then his face darkened and he continued, "I have a strange feeling that something is about to happen, and I would like to be fully prepared for it." Raising his head once more, he finished his instructions, "Simply follow Azail's instructions and lend him a hand. If he should choose to give the new recruits actual battle experience, so be it."

Without hesitation, I answered, "Yes, sir! I shall do as you ordered," Then pausing to catch my breath, "But before I leave, I would like to ask you something."

"Go ahead, ask your question."

"Where might the princess be? I thought she would have woken up early just to have fun on her birthday."

"Oh, Princess Alicia is awake alright, but I have absolutely no idea where she has gone. And besides, she can take care of herself, and it is her birthday. If I should impose restrictions on her today, she would explode-literally." The king said, sighing to prove a point.

"Hmm…" And that was all I had to say before I left the throne room.

-?-

This time, I found myself in a different place. Or maybe I should say a different memory. The gem radiated a blinding light, and after that I remembered blacking out as the light covered my eyes and emitted a gentle warmth that compelled me to go to sleep. When I awoke, I found myself in a sort of golden palace, which was way fancier than anything I had ever been in at that time. I was used to seeing alleyways and rooftops, but a golden palace? That was simply impossible.

But as impossible as it was, it was true. I was surrounded by golden walls, or at least they looked golden to me. They may very well just be shining, but to me they just looked gold. Anyway, golden palace could be somewhat of a stretch, considering that I was only in one room that was surrounded by golden walls with absolutely no door. In the center of the room, I saw a strange circle carved into the ground, lining it were strange runes that I had never seen before.

_They could be Soul Runes, considering that I can't use Soul I guess it would be weird that I would be seeing these._

Truthfully, even though almost everyone could use Soul to an extent, I couldn't. I was simply the ultimately unlucky one who, no matter how hard I tried, was never able to utilize Soul. And yet, for some reason, I felt compelled to touch the circle, just feel with my own palms the strange power that always emanated from Soul Runes. Considering that there was no one around to see me, I bent down, slowly inching my fingers closer and closer to the circle, when I finally touched it. The power emanating from it was strange, unlike anything I had felt before. But that wasn't the strange part, not at all.

No sooner had I touched it when I felt a jolt of energy go through my palm, one that stung to the point when unbearable pain lined my entire arm. I winced in pain as I stumbled back, eventually slipping and landing on my butt. The pain became so intense that I screamed the loudest that I could, and for that I was glad no one was there to hear me. Soon, the pain passed, and burned into my arm were strange runes and markings that I bet even the oldest of pokemon wouldn't be able to understand.

I got to my feet, careful not to touch the circle again, in fear of something else even worse happening. At that point, I began to panic, and rushed to every wall trying to find a way out of there. But my efforts were futile, for no way out was ever visible. Then, as if someone had heard my cries for help, a voice reverberated through my mind. At that time, I could only rationalize it as telepathy.

_**Prial… Can you hear me?**_

_WHAT THE HECK IS THIS!? I must be hearing things; I must be going crazy…_

_**Stop mumbling nonsense and listen to me! You're not crazy, and I am not a 'thing'!**_

_What... _I calmed down a little, but still skeptical, I tried to communicate with the 'voice'.

_Okay then… what are you? Or maybe I should rephrase that… Who are you?_

_**I'll answer both then. My name is Karina, Keeper of Time.**_

_Okay… Why are you in my head?_

_**That… Well, it's a long story. Would you like the shortened version?**_

_Yes, please._

_**Very well… I used to have dominion over the Timespace, an endless whirlpool of temporal energy that could act as the crossroad to any point in time. But, an organization known as ChaosForce found a way into the Timespace and corrupted it, and with the Timespace corrupted, the only way I could prevent the entire timeline from cracking apart was by sacrificing my very lifeforce. However, I have not completely diminished yet, and thus I have been waiting for a successor to be the new Keeper of Time.**_

_Please don't say…_

_**Yes. It has to be you. I have drawn many people into Arcana in order to test whether or not the Timepiece would accept them, but all have failed except you. **_

_The Timepiece… would that happen to be the gem I picked up in the forest?_

_**Yes. The Timepiece has the ability to warp the caster into the Timespace, which is where you are now. Timespace: End of Time. **_

_Please say there is a way out of here._

_**There is. The Timepiece can take you back. This is your final test. If you can find a way out of here using the Timepiece, you can choose to accept the responsibility of becoming the Keeper of Time.**_

_What do I need to do?_

_**Go into the Soul Circle once more. I shall grant you a gift.**_

Heeding her words, and with great reluctance, I stepped into the circle once more, gradually feeling the searing pain overcome my arm once more, but it soon died down, as if Karina was helping me. The Soul Circle glowed, and out of nowhere, a staff began to form. It was perfectly crafted, a long thin piece of metal with a crest on the top. However, in the middle of the crest, the dragon's claws looked like it was supposed to hold something.

_Perhaps…_

Without thinking twice, I slipped the Timepiece out of my pocket. Carefully, I slid it into the spot just in between the dragon's claws, and the Timepiece glowed a bright blue light that blinded my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw that the dragon had changed to form a circular shape, the dragon's claws now looming very protectively above the newly inserted Timepiece.

_**Perfect, now release the energy of time, slide between the dimensional walls and return to Thysia.**_

Holding the staff high with both hands, I imagined myself walking through an imaginary wall, sliding through it with no problem. I imagined that the room I was in dissolved around me, the Forest of Mysteries coming back into view. I opened my eyes. The staff halted its glow and I found myself standing right in the center of the clearing that I had first found myself in.

_**You have passed the final test. Now: Will you accept the title of Eternal Timekeeper?**_

There was only one answer to that.

"I accept!" I shouted out loud as a bolt of lightning erupted from the staff and struck the cloudy sky, forcing the clouds to back off and compelling the storm to end. Energy surged through me, the power of Soul immediately becoming known to me. I was the Keeper of Time, and I would carry out my duty.

-Alicia-

I know my father is probably wondering where I am right now, but he has absolutely no right to impose on me today! It's my birthday, and on this day I'm supposed to be able to do whatever I want to! But I'm glad I managed to sneak out of my room without him noticing, though he can't impose on me today he sure still can lecture me. If I woke up so early just to go and see him… My father would have lectured me until the afternoon! No exaggeration meant. It did happen before, though the previous time I did manage to slip away, I'm pretty sure he would have guarded against that already.

Anyway, the main reason why my father is so protective of me is because I'm the princess. And you'd think that meant I could do whatever I wanted to, and that was how it was a couple years ago, but not since… mother died. Though I was heartbroken at first, I still have dad and my friends to get me by. Oh right, back to the reason I snuck out. On my birthday, I always sneak out to meet one of the only friends I have in the palace. Of course, I do have friends, but most of them live in the village and they're not allowed on the palace grounds, so I can only see them during my birthday. But the first person I always visit was Prial.

I snuck through the hallway, without anyone in sight to spot me. Soon, I had arrived at the front door on Prial's room. He had a room in the palace because he and his brother were both knights in the Oriental Army, and Prial and his brother were held in high esteem by my father. Anyway, I knocked on the door gently, careful not to wake him if he should still be asleep. I pushed open the door, a creaking sound emitting from it as it swung open. Inside, I saw exactly what I had expected to see. Prial was snoring away and he was sleeping in an awkward position, his blanket not even covering his upper body and half already off the bed.

Each step I took was soundless, trying my best not to wake him. A plan began to form in my head as I approached his sleeping figure. As I bent over him, a smile crept over my face as I readied to give him the fright of his life.

"Boo!" I shouted at the top of my voice, directly into his ears.

He bolted up, looking startled as he said, "What happened!?"

I giggled as I retreated from bending over him as he slowly relaxed and realized what had just taken place.

"Alicia! I told you not to sneak up on me like that!"

I giggled, "You told me, and I didn't listen."

He sighed as he got off the bed, heading into the bathroom to clean up. He put on a dark blue T-shirt, the same one I saw him wearing every day. That was one of the many things I liked about him. Unlike the rest of the knights, he was much younger than the rest and also way more fun to be around. He was more than friendly, and he never dressed in armor or heavy suits. He always preferred to dress casually, a dark blue T-shirt coupled with a pair of dark blue trousers were his usual haunts. At first, father was always mad at him for not wearing the knight's proper uniform, but thankfully I talked him out of that.

The door opened with a click, and I saw the Prial that I was used to: A grovyle wearing a dark blue T-shirt with the sleeves uncovered enough to not interfere with his blades; that was coupled with a pair of dark blue trousers that had holes cut out for his tail. Finally finishing the outfit, were a pair of specially designed blue-lined sneakers that were just right for him. Slung over his back was the staff he named: Timeless Tear.

"So, what are you doing so early out of your room, princess?"

"Prial, Prial… How many times do I have to tell you? A-LI-CIA. Drop the formalities with your best friend okay?"

"Fine, fine. What are you doing here so early, Alicia?"

"Good! Well, duh. I wanted to see you so we could go exploring the city again. Today is the only day I can get out of my boring everyday palace life. So, come on! Let's go!"

"Stop rushing me… I can't imagine how you would get bored of palace life. You get everything you ever ask for. Literally."

"No comment. Just hurry up!" I said as I rushed out the door.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming."

-Prial-

I know I sounded highly exasperated earlier, but honestly, even though I wouldn't be able to admit it, the time I spent with Alicia was some of the best times of my life. Most of the time, I would be teaching Alicia how to fight, considering the fact that I was assigned as her personal bodyguard, or I would be off carrying out missions that were assigned to me. On other times, when Alicia was spending time with her father, the king, and I had no missions going on, I would spend time training in the nearby woods, practicing and perfecting my time spells.

Asient, I had named it, was the staff that I received from Karina, the Keeper of Time. Most of the time, I had it slung over my back when there were no ongoing battles. And since Oriental was now enjoying a period of peace, I rarely had the chance to draw my staff. Currently, I was running through the hallway as Alicia pulled on my hand, apparently eager to get out of the palace and see the town once more. Like she said, she rarely got the chance to be outside the palace, so every birthday she would wake me up early in the morning to accompany her.

Why did she need me? Simple. Though her father told her that she was allowed to be outside the palace on her birthday, but he wanted her to have an escort at all times. Too overprotective, I guess. And because of that, I had to 'escort' her every time she wanted to go out. I was mostly reluctant to, but being with Alicia just made me feel happy, and though I hated going out early in the morning, I would always make an exception just for her.

We were soon at the front gates of the palace, Alicia shouting to the guards to let us out. Of course, once they noticed me, they obliged with her request and the gates creaked open. This time, she didn't have to pull me. I willingly followed her into the town. She was excited as always, constantly stopping to look at something and signaling to me to show me the same.

At one shop, the vendor was selling beautiful pieces of jewelry, and that gave me an idea. I went up to the vendor, picked a ruby necklace, and paid the cash for it. I did have it, since my brother always came back with rewards from missions and occasionally gave me a sort of an allowance. Though, I also earned my own cash by doing missions or when I had time, doing missions from the nearby tavern as a mercenary.

"20 Ferals, please."

"Here." I said, passing him the cash and grabbing the ruby necklace.

I looked behind me, and saw that Alicia was on the other end of the path, looking at something else. Thankfully, I reminded her to get a change of clothes before we went out, so no one was paying her any attention since she looked like an ordinary girl. Normally, you'd think that was bad, but considering her title and position, she'd go crazy if everyone in the town crowded around her and I really don't want that happening on her birthday.

I walked over to her, tapping on her shoulder once I was right behind her. She turned around, and I raised the ruby necklace to her eye level.

"Is that for me?" She asked.

"Yes… Turn around, let me put it on for you."

She turned around, and I put my hands over her head, holding the ruby necklace. Moving my hands backwards, I placed the ruby necklace on her neck, and then clicked the lock then bound the necklace together. She turned around once more, slowly tracing her finger over the diamond-shaped ruby necklace.

"It's beautiful. Thanks, Prial." She said, blushing furiously.

_She's blushing? Wait, am I?_

She cleared her throat, apparently trying to change the subject, "How about we head to the nearby forest? We always go there."

"Sure." I said; glad to think of something that does NOT make me blush like crazy.

-?-

*over communicator*

"Commander. We have confirmed the locations of the Timekeeper. Would you like us to…?"

"No! Leave him alone for the time being. You must not make anyone aware of your presence. Wait for them to reach the targeted area to capture him. Do not mess this up!"

"Yes, sir. But I must ask why it is so important that we capture him?"

"Simple. He has the power of Karina, the Keeper of Time, and that gives him the ability to control the timeline at will. We need his power."

"So, we should capture him at any costs, correct?"

"Correct. But do not be too rough with him. He will not be willing to work with us if we paint him the picture that we are ChaosForce."

"Very well, sir."

*end conversation*

Well… I wonder who the guys are talking at the end. And who the heck is ChaosForce? Just kidding, an explanation is required if you guys are going to submit your OCs. I know this chapter isn't very exciting, but trust me when I say the next chapter will finally showcase Prial Time Soul abilities!

Prial: YES! NO SPOILERS!  
Me: Stylish, Prial's even worse than you when it comes to spoilers…

Now, the OC form for this second fanfic!

Name: (Please, no stupid names)

Second Name: (Like a title or something)

Gender: (Male or female)

Age: (Preferably 14 to 20)

Appearance:

History:

Soul Type: (What attribute should your Soul be, for Pokemon Class 2 to 5 only.)

Weapon Type: (Sword, Arrow, Staff/Wand, Gun, Dagger, Ninja Stars and whatever else you guys can come up with.)

Weapon Name: (Please name your weapon(s).)

Combat Class: (Melee, Ranged and Magic.)

Thysian Class: (1 to 5, explained below.)

Moves/Abilities: (Be as creative as you want, but it should be related to your Pokemon Class, Combat Class, and Soul Type.)  
Natural Abilities: (For Pokemon Class 1 to 4 only.)  
Combat Abilities: (Abilities that are based on your Combat Class)  
Soul Abilities: (For Pokemon Class 2 to 5 only.)  
Weapon Abilities: (Special abilities that are bound to your weapon.)

Alignment: (StrikeForce, Protagonist, Lone, Other OCs, ChaosForce)

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Hobbies:

Quotes:

Other Notes:

-Explanation for 'Thysian Class'-

Since Thysia's species of pokemon can use both their natural abilities and Soul, I've decided to make a restriction for this unique case otherwise everybody will be way too overpowered. This restriction I have decided to name it 'Thysian Class'. Like above, there are classes 1 to 5, which are explained below:

Thysian Class 1: The oldest class of Pokémon, this class of pokemon is usually older folks which cannot utilize Soul at all and instead rely on natural abilities to battle. Of course, there are exceptions. They are unable to use Soul attacks, but can have an unlimited amount of natural abilities.  
Thysian Class 2: The second oldest class, this class comprises of pokemon who can to some extent utilize Soul, but still mostly rely on natural abilities for battle. As a specific restriction, this class of pokemon can only have a maximum of 12 natural abilities and 4 Soul abilities.  
Thysian Class 3: The most balanced class, this class comprises of pokemon who can use both natural and Soul abilities, and is the most recommended class for those who want me to not go crazy with your OC's depiction. This class can have an equal maximum of 8 Soul and natural abilities.  
Thysian Class 4: The second most developed class, this class of pokemon are those who mainly use Soul as their main force in battle, but occasionally rely on natural abilities as well. (sort of like an anti-class 2) They can have a maximum of 12 Soul abilities and 4 natural abilities.  
Thysian Class 5: Finally, the most developed class. This class is comprised of the ones who have developed Soul to the extent that their natural abilities have become obsolete. They are unable to use natural abilities, but can have an unlimited amount of Soul attacks.

This might be a little complex for some of you, but please read it carefully and think over which class you will want to choose. Most likely I won't make the same mistake as my first fanfic and thus those who have submitted will not be able to re-submit, so remember to think thoroughly which class to choose!

Also, ChaosForce will be this story's main antagonists while StrikeForce will be the resistance group. Though at the start Prial is aligned to the Oriental Army, majority of the story he will be aligned to StrikeForce. I hate spoiling this, as much as Prial hates it, but without this info I doubt you guys will be able to submit your OCs.

For example, here's Prial's OC form.

Name: Prial Missile

Second Name: Eternal Timekeeper

Gender: Male

Age: 17

Species: Grovyle

Appearance: He is about 180 cm tall, has an average grovyle build. He has sky-blue irises, usually seen wearing a dark blue T-shirt and a pair of dark blue trousers. He wears a pair of blue-lined sneakers at times.

Personality: He can be impulsive at times, and also hot-headed, preferring to rush into a battle head-first without thinking things through. But despite all this, he cares about his friends more than anything else and at points in time putting his life on the line just to protect them. He is willing to help anyone who he sees deserving of it, and thus makes him very easy to get along with.

Family: Blaze Missile- Brother

History: His parents were killed by ChaosForce when he was very young, and has since lived with his brother in order to survive. But when on one faithful day he was chosen to be the keeper of time, the lord of Oriental picked him and his brother from the streets and they became the youngest knights to join the Oriental Army.

Soul Type: Aetas Soul (Time Soul)

Weapon Type: Staff

Weapon Name: Asient, the Timeless Tear

Combat Class: Magic

Thysian Class: 4

Moves/Abilities:

Natural Abilities: Last Light: Prial's solar abilities have diminished after receiving the soul of time, but have managed to retain a minimal amount of attacks.  
LL: Sol Dive- Covers Prial in solar energy to dive and attack multiple enemies.  
LL: Sol Edge- Infuses his leaf blades with solar energy to attack enemies at fast speeds.  
LL: Lightfyre- Shoots solar blasts at high rates, able to hit multiple enemies.  
LL: Radiant Memories- Calls upon the light of the sun to boost the abilities of nearby allies tenfold, but this skill has a cooldown of 1800 seconds/ 30 mins.

Combat Abilities: Photic Mana: Utilises mana to attack with his staff.  
PM: Energy Bolt- Fires a bolt of mana at a target.  
PM: Energy Rising- Erupts mana particles to create a burst of energy.  
PM: Staff Striker- Imbues his staff with magical energy to allow it to act as a blade for attacking at close range.  
PM: Archstrike- Fires a fusillade of mana bolts at multiple or one target(s) at high speeds.  
PM: Impact Shell- Creates a shield/barrier of mana.

Soul Abilities: Timekeeper Aeon: Allows Prial to control time at will, however each spell costs a minimum of 2 seconds of casting time, thus making his time skills very slow in battle circumstances.  
TA: Freeze- Freezes time on a target thus preventing it from moving, however this skill takes up a lot of energy and no other time skills may be casted while this skill is in effect.  
TA: History- Reverses time on a target, causing it to return to its point of origin, however this skill takes up a lot of energy and all time skills suffer a cooldown of 5 seconds after use.  
TA: Slow- Slows time on a target and drastically delays its movement.  
TA: Haste- Speeds up time on a target, causing it to move faster than its original speed.  
TA: Break- Dispels the effect of any nearby time skills.  
TA: Chains of Time- Compels the temporal particles to form the shape of chains, which can be used to attack enemies and trap them. Time spells can also be casted on the chains. This is the only skill which can be used on impulse and requires no casting time.  
TA: Bombardear- Compresses temporal particles into a sphere that can be thrown as a bomb that detonates after 10 seconds.  
TA: Judgment- Blows up nearby temporal particles and explodes the surrounding area.  
TA: Gate- Conjures a gate of temporal energy, when used for the first couple of times may send anyone who steps into it to any point in time. (Not used for battle purposes)  
TA: Puppeteer- Turns the surrounding field into a 'Time Zone', allowing the user to control time individually on every target in the zone. This spell saps the user's energy to maintain the zone.

Weapon Abilities: Temporal Chapter: A set of ultimate time skills that were bestowed upon Prial along with his staff. It usually causes him to black out after use.  
TC: Prologue- Releasing the temporal energy sealed inside his staff, Prial is able to return anything with a 5 mile radius to its original state; or he can choose to release it on one target and force it to revert back to its most basic form.  
TC: Endless Timeline- Energizes Prial to reach a state called 'Aeterna', in which he has full control and mastery over time, allowing him to manipulate it at will and without hesitation. Though this state is powerful, it only lasts for 10 mins.  
TC: Epilogue- Forces anything within a 5 mile radius to the End of Time, causing most plant life to die and most buildings to crumble as if they've aged an infinite amount of time. Alternatively, he can choose to focus the energy on one target, and force the target into a state of sealed time, in which the target will be eternally trapped in time.

Alignment: StrikeForce

Strengths: He cares strongly about his friends, and will do anything to keep them safe, thus making him more likeable and easier to make friends with.

Weaknesses: He rushes into battle without thinking, and without help usually can't win a battle that easily.

Hobbies: Messing with the timeline, helping his friends out.

Quotes: Finally! If I had known it would've taken so long, I would've just used Haste!  
Planning's for cowards, let's fight!  
Leave my friends alone!  
Time magic is not unbeatable, but if you can't focus then it is.

I'm not going to spoil Blaze's OC form, neither will I spoil Alicia's (YES, SHE CAN FIGHT) either. Maybe next chapter. I can't wait for the OC's you guys will come up with!


	3. Chapter 2: Transcendence

I know what you guys are going to say: "Hey! Why do you keep updating this fanfic when The Existence Artifacts hasn't been updated in over a month?" Well, truthfully my mind is blank for that fanfic at the moment so I'll keep you guys occupied by writing this one and hopefully something will come to mind.

Prial: Are you sure you're not just lazy?  
Me: If I was lazy I wouldn't be writing this, would I?  
Prial: Good point… Then what ab-  
*Author casts soundproof barrier spell and traps Prial*  
Me: Ah… finally some peace.  
*Rest of the crew steps back in utter fear as Prial tries relentlessly to break the barrier*

Corruption of the Circle

Chapter 2: Transcendence

-Blaze-

"Prial, you in there?" I shouted as I knocked on the closed bedroom door.

I had just completed the training of the new recruits with Azail, and since it was still reasonably early I assumed that Prial was still asleep. And though he would be reluctant to do so, I always got him to wake up bright and early to begin his missions. Thus, I was now knocking on his door in hopes that he would answer, which would obviously signal that he was awake. But no luck, I had be knocking on the door for at least 10 minutes now, and there was not even one sign that he was awake. Either that, or he was already gone.

"Prial, I'm coming in." I clicked open the door and noticed something unexpected.

He was gone! So, he did make it a point to wake up bright and early today. Now I was left with one unsolved mystery. Where the heck was he? If he had woken up he would usually come looking for me. If he didn't…

_Perhaps the princess is with him? Nearly everyone in the palace knows that Alicia is practically Prial's only friend… And the king did say that she snuck out of her room early this morning. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that Alicia woke him up, I guess._

Well, worrying wouldn't do me any good. It wasn't as if I had much to worry about. Prial was adept at fighting with his staff and had taught Alicia how to fight to an extent. If they were together, I have no doubt they would be able to take care of themselves. Well, I guess I should head to town and see if I can find them. Since today was the princess' birthday, my best guess at where they would be was the town.

I walked back the way I came, through the fancy hallways and past many soldiers loitering in the palace. It was still reasonably early, and the soldiers really had nothing else to report to, so no one could blame them for enjoying the morning peace. I headed towards the front gates, where I knew Alicia and Prial probably went before heading into the town square. Unexpectedly, I bumped into the person I had just seen this morning: Azail.

"Hey, Blaze! What's up?"

"Oh, nice to see you again, Azail. What brings you here?"

"Nothing much, I was about to go into town to see if I could get a job, then I saw you. Which reminds me, what are you doing? You rarely head into town."

"Truthfully, I'm looking for Prial and Alicia. They're missing."

"MISSING!? We should inform the king then!"

"Relax… They're probably just having a good time. It is the princess' birthday after all."

"You're probably right about that." Azail sighed and his tension slowly simmered.

"Well, since we're heading the same direction, why not we go together? We can go our separate ways at the town square."

"Good idea. Let's go!"

And the gates opened to let us out, out into the town where Prial and Alicia were. And for some unknown reason, a strange feeling gripped my heart as I walked out. Even with the self-assurance that they could take care of themselves, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen. Something that would shake the balance of everything that we knew. Something that would end this long period of peace.

-Prial-

"Come on! We have to keep running!"

I held Alicia's hand tightly as I kept running, my shoes trampling the nearby vegetation as we bolted through the forest. My breathing became more unstable by the minute, panting just to inhale enough air to escape. You'd think that I would be in misery, but I wasn't. Alicia's condition was far worse. She had cuts all over her, blood dripping and leaving a trail of bright red everywhere we stepped. Her breathing was dangerously shallow, and the color began to drain from her face. Her eyes no longer had the sense of bright life; instead it was now replaced by the shade of death.

30 minutes earlier…

My feet dragged against the dark-green grass that practically covered the layout of the forest, rustling sounds could be heard as we walked across it, heading to our usual spot during this time of day. Though I wasn't technically holding her hand, it was close to. Alicia was following right behind me, staying close since she relatively didn't like the trip to our spot. Even though we liked spending the entire morning there, and though we had walked this trail thousands of times before, she still hated it to some extent. It could've been the fact that she wasn't used to walking through forest landscape since she spent most of the time cooped up in the palace taking 'princess lessons', or it could've been the fact that she simply hated bugs.

Now I know what you would be thinking. It's a forest, so how would there be bugs? I mean, isn't it common knowledge that bugs frequent swamps more than forests, where the humidity level is so much higher? But even so, bugs still occasionally appeared, and if anyone else was there, they would've laughed their heads off watching Alicia squeal as she tried desperately to swat away the bugs. The first time we came here, I did laugh as I watched her, but then I learned the hard way that even though she was a princess, she was not one to be trifled with. Please, just… be wary of her abilities. (She's scary)

Anyway, we were trekking through the dense forest, where every tree, flower and blade of grass glowed a healthy green, a good sign that the ground was perfect for harvesting herbs. Though not something I practice daily, I have to admit, I'm pretty good with herbs and stuff. There have been times when my brother and I would lead explorations into the unknown, and I would be the one always making potions or remedies to cure injuries and sickness. There was even once I found a rare herb called a SoulGrass, which was a near impossible to find flower which could cure a Soul user to maximum strength. It would even work if the recipient was on the edge of death, and that was useful.

Soon after we climbed over a particularly large bunch of tree roots and fallen branches, we had finally reached the place we called: Hidden Haven. It was a place where no one could find us, not even my brother or the king and not even the best spies. The fallen trees and branches was our decoy protection, the real protection lay in the effects of our combined Soul power. I'm a Time Soul user, while Alicia… you might not believe this but her Soul is quite opposite to mine. Her Soul is one of the rarest Soul types in Thysia, right next to the rarity of Time Soul, which was a Soul called Gate Soul. It was used long ago to open the seal to the Erasure Circle, The Destroyer of Light, and reverse its effects. Before her, no one had been a Gate Soul user for a very long time.

Back to the place we had just arrived at. We came here for many things; we used it as a central for exploration, our own secret; we also used it as a hideout to escape from 'unwanted visitors'; we even used it as a practice ground, where we would occasionally spar against each other. It was all good fun, and especially on her birthday.

Running over to the other end of the field, Alicia took a battle stance and unsheathed Regret, Gate Piercer, her personal sword which worked surprisingly well with her Gate Soul. I reached behind my back, careful not to twist my arm, and grabbed my staff, which was exactly how I remembered it: A dragon curved in an arc, its claws covering the timepiece, linked to a metallic silver rod.

"Ladies first?"

"How gentlemanly of you. **Spatial Gate: Beast!**"

With her sword still in her left hand, she thrust forward her right, her body not even moving an inch otherwise. A swirling pool of energy appeared in front of her, and inside lay the alternate dimension she could always connect to with her Soul. From the gate, out came a Shadow Wolf, one of the many species of Thysian Beasts. (A/N: Now, from this point, you guys might be confused; now, I know what you're gonna say. 'Hey! I thought only pokemon lived on Thysia! What's with this wolf?' right? Well, I guess I didn't explain too clearly. I'll explain at the end of the chapter.) I readied a battle stance, and the staff's head began to glow a dim sky blue, energy beginning to radiate from it.

The beast charged at me, growling as it pulled out its claws to slice me into pieces. It bared its fangs as if eating me up was the only thing on its mind. I raised my staff, casting: **Photic Mana: Impact Shell! **Octagonal pieces of mana began to form, creating a shell-like shield that deflected the force the wolf was ready to unload unto me, allowing me some time to prepare my next spell as he recoiled back from the shock. As he recovered, I blasted my attack that would end the summon beast: **Photic Mana: Energy Bolt! **A blast of mana erupted from my staff, flying and finally disintegrating it into energy, a summon beast's most basic form.

"That was the easy difficulty, now I'm gonna see how you deal with an onslaught of them!" Alicia threatened.

As she gathered energy into her hands, an aura of bright yellow began to emerge, radiating an energy signature that I was all too familiar with. Thrusting her hands forward with her sword now pierced into the ground, she opened multiple gates at once, and out came an army of Thysian Beasts. I could recognize them, which included Shadow Wolves, Blizzard Lycanthropes, and so on.

_Heh, let's see how fast I can finish them off._

They charged, literally. One roar from a lycanthrope and they charged as if fighting an entire army of the opposition, unlike the current situation which was about one to four hundred or so. Without thinking much, I charged towards them, staff pointed in their direction ready to unleash a bombard of attacks. As soon as both sides had met in the center mark of the field, a lycanthrope attempted a first strike by swiping its claws at me. I side-stepped, and finished him off with an Energy Bolt. The next attack came from a Shadow Wolf, chomping down on me but failing to do so. I jumped up as its attack came, bouncing off his back and throwing another Energy Bolt at it. From the air, I launched my next attack, one that would be enough to finish majority of the feral army. Taking a second to gather mana, I launched my attack: **Photic Mana: Archstrike! **As I casted the last syllable of the spell, I thrusted my staff down to point at the ground as an onslaught of energy spheres struck down the howling army, one by one disintegrating into mana particles.

I landed safely on my feet, casting an Energy Burst just in time to finish the last one. Now came the real challenge: fighting with Alicia herself. Her army was but a mere fraction of her true strength, and since they were gone she would have to fight me herself, just like we always did. She picked up her sword from the dirt, and we charged at each other.

-?-

"I have reason to believe that my daughter is in danger. I understand that you have just recently joined us, but I must ask you to head out to the nearby forest and protect her."

"Forgive me for asking, sire, but isn't the Timekeeper with her? I believe that he has a reasonably good chance of standing against them."

"Yes, Prial is with her, and it is not that I doubt his strength. He has a tremendous amount of power, but has a desperate lack of experience. He is still young, and though he can fight well, he will not be able to stand against their numbers. If capturing the two of them is such a high priority mission, then they would not have just sent one or two members."

"I understand, sir. My brother and I will get to it immediately. Before we leave, I must ask…"

"Yes?"

"Why would the resistance need to capture him? It is proven that the Aetas Soul contains a tremendous amount of power, yes. But if he cannot utilize it fully, how does that help them?"

"All power, no matter how weak or strong can be cultivated and developed. The Aetas Soul in its current state remains dormant, but once he realizes the true weight of his actions, he will awaken the Soul to become who the world needs him to be."

-3rd Person-

Cracks could be heard as the battle between the two ended. Bits and pieces of the barrier began to flutter down like feathers, floating left and right before disintegrating on the ground. The surrounding area glowed a dim red, a low hum could be heard emanating from the barrier, and to Prial it could only mean one thing. Someone, or something, was trying to break the barrier.

"Oh, shit…" Prial only had time to mutter those exact words, before a large crackling sound was heard, and the barrier shattered, bursting millions of shards of time-space energy into the air, miniature explosions could be seen all around the hideout as barrier vanished into nothing. The impact of the broken shell had enough force to send Prial and Alicia tumbling back, forcing them to black out for just a couple of seconds.

Unfortunately, that was all the time these pokemon needed. As soon as they had blacked out, they opened their eyes in surprise, realizing that they were now surrounded by unknown pokemon. Each was pretty much wearing the same uniform, though Prial couldn't tell you what it looked like, since he was still recovering from the blast. A team of ten, two each was holding him and Alicia up while the rest had guns and swords at point-blank range, preventing whatever escape plan they had up their sleeves.

From the ten figures, one struck Prial as the obvious leader of the group, inferred by the fact that he was wearing a different uniform than the rest and the fact that he was wielding a different type of weapon. While the rest simply held swords and guns, the leader instead had a spear slung over his back, and was brandishing a lightning ball in his hand.

"So, this is the reincarnation of Karina, Keeper of Time." He said.

"What's it to you?" Prial said with utter disdain encrypted in his voice.

"Oh, nothing really, it's just an honor to finally meet you in person. Our boss will be very pleased with your capture."

"Tch. What makes you think we're captured?"

"Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise?"

"There is one. **Timekeeper Aeon: Freeze!**" Instantly, a wave of temporal energy was emitted, sending all ten men on the field into a state of suspended animation. Without much difficulty, Prial pried his arms and Alicia's from theirs, picked up his staff and Regret on the ground, and bolted into the woods. As he left, he uttered his final words.

"If you were wondering what your flaw was, it was that you left my staff within spell range."

Darting into the woods to lose their captors, Prial had Alicia on his back, which put some strain onto the grovyle as he jumped over tree roots and other minor setbacks that could be found in a typical forest, occasionally almost tripping over a pebble or two. Patches of grass was trampled and the leaves on the trees rustled as he tried his best to get the both of them into a place where they could escape. He hoped, even with his weakened state, the time spell he casted would last long enough to give them a significant head start to run from his captors.

Prial wasn't one to turn down a fight, but he wasn't one who was completely an idiot either. When he first opened his eyes, sizing up the situation with one look, he was positive he had absolutely no chance of winning. They knew just when to strike. It was as if they had been planning this interception for weeks. Perhaps they did. Without letting up, Prial continued through the forest with Alicia on his back, panting without the slightest chance to stop and catch his breath.

Then, out of nowhere, just as he dashed past a humongous tree trunk, loud bangs could be heard behind them. A few seconds later, bullets flew past them as fast as sound, some completely off their mark, some just barely missing their target.

_Shit… The spell wore off. _

They neared the edge of the forest, their captors were in hot pursuit and were right on their tails, firing bullets in their general direction and gave Prial the sense that they were just playing lucky draw or something. He could just imagine what they had said before beginning their chase. _"First one to hit the target wins lunch for a week!"_ Apparently, their aim was horrible terrible, none of the bullets actually hit their mark. Most grazed the bark of trees and some just plain flew through the air, whistling as they buzzed past.

Luck, simply had to torture him even longer. Prial soon ran out of place to run, dashing past the edge of the forest and onto the most cliché place possible: an enormous cliffside. The drop was at least twenty thousand feet long, and there was no way either of them would survive, unless miraculously a flying Thysian Beast just so happened to fly past, and there wasn't any sign of that happening soon.

They were cornered, trapped like rats at the triangular dead-end. Guns were pointed at them from all directions, Soul attacks were readied to be launched and finish them off. The leader spoke once more, this time more with amusement in his voice rather than his playful tone earlier. Prial really wanted to just send this idiot to hell already.

"Good effort!" He said, "But I'm afraid it's all gone to waste, you have nowhere else to run, and if you jump you won't survive anyway. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?"

"Tch…"

"Come quietly, you have no other choice."

"Oh, I don't think so." An unknown voice reverberated through the surrounding area, seemingly sounding from inside the forest.

And then it happened, a single strike was all it took to bring utter and total chaos to the field. From the space in the trees, a sudden barrage of icicles flew into the battle, impaling at least three of the ten pokemon that were threatening them. The assaulters lost their concentration for just a moment, allowing Prial just enough time to grab his staff from behind his back. Setting down Alicia on the ground, he charged.

-Prial-

Whoever created that distraction, I'm terribly grateful to them. With that amount of time, I grabbed my staff, dashing at top speeds towards the nearest guy I could hit. Charging energy from the surroundings, I felt a sudden jolt of power, the energy of Soul coursing through my veins. Redirecting that energy into my staff, I began my attack. **Photic Mana: Staff Striker!** An aura took shape around my staff, creating a blade-like shape which I then used to slash at the first target at high speeds.

Finishing him off with the final strike, I ducked to dodge an incoming attack, and then use Haste to increase my speed. Feeling the world slow down around me, it was as if I had disappeared and instantly reappeared behind my initial attacker, dealing him great damage with Energy Burst. As he fell, two other rose up, and they unfortunately met their timely demise just as quickly. **Chains of Time!** The ground rumbled for just a second, and from there erupted chains, silver temporal chains that were created by time particles in the air.

The chains made short work of the two, confining them in some sort of cage which they had absolutely no chance of breaking out of. Two more Energy Bursts and they were out of commission. Hearing gunshots behind me, I turned to see another figure battling with one of my assaulters, and beside him was another, battling back to back as if they had been fighting together their whole lives. The battle ended with their victory, and the only one left was the so-called leader. Who, was smart enough to know he had no chance of winning since he was outnumbered three to one, fled with his tail between his legs.

Victory felt damn sweet, and relief came over me as the chase finally came to an end. The two who had helped us were busy cleaning the blood of them, but all I could think of was Alicia. I darted over to her deathly figure, her skin as pale as a white rose, her usual sky-blue eyes slowly turning white, and her natural warmth becoming harsh cold. Blood oozed out of her many cuts, and a large pool of red was already beside her mouth, obvious that being the source.

_Fuck! If only I could turn back time to fix all this… Wait… Time… That's it!_

I stood up, raising myself from my kneeling position as I felt the two pairs of eyes watch me. I was oblivious to the fact that it was already night, or that we had been gone the whole day, or the fact that we had just been chased by an unknown group. My head instantly filled with meaningless words, useless until recited orderly. I felt my eyes glow, my head clearing and I suddenly felt more powerful than I had ever before. An aura of energy swirled around me, rising in a clear blue.

"**Transcendence!**"I shouted the command and instantly the whole cliff exploded in a blinding sea of light. No one could open their eyes, and yet amidst the oddity of it all, I opened my eyes, clear as day and I touched my staff's head to Alicia's face, instinct already having taken over my entire being. The light subsided, but I didn't know that, black was all I saw from there.

-?-

"Let's get them to safety, Adrien."

My sociopathic brother said nothing and simply shrugged it off, like he always did, but contrary to his response he headed over to the fallen duo and picked the guy up, leaving me to carry the princess. I mentally surveyed the battlefield, which was mostly unscathed despite that seemingly powerful light shining earlier. It still had its natural structure, only now instead of rock-brown it was now covered in blood. Red liquid dripped off the side of the cliff, clearly staining the treetops of the forest below with bright red. Nine bodies lay on the field, each surrounded by a sea of blood.

I walked over to the princess, kneeling down and checking how badly she was hurt. And to my utter surprise, she was absolutely fine. Her cuts had been healed, and whatever serious bleeding she had was nothing less than a faint scar.

_Strange… How is it that she survived the entire ordeal without even being hurt…? Perhaps that light?_

"Stop daydreaming, Dante… They might be back."

Even saying those few words, Adrien had a talent of making whatever he said sound painful with every sound. But as much as I hated it, he had a point. One of the ten had escaped and we might never know if they might come back. We have to leave and head back to the castle as fast as possible; the king must be dead-worried.

"Right… Let's hurry."

Heaving the princess' body onto mine, I carried her over my back and walked just behind my brother, the ever sociopathic servine, a pokemon of a few words. We trudged past the way we came, retracing our steps as we headed through the forest, now darkened by nightfall. Stepping onto a tree trunk, Adrien near-impossibly slipped on the tree roots, tumbling down the relatively small hill and bumping into another tree trunk, which sent lots of Lux Flies our way. They didn't bother us, considering that they were known for their passive nature, but knowing that lots more Thysian Beasts could be out there, we quickened our pace, hoping to arrive at the castle much sooner.

And true enough, plus much to our intense relief, we finally arrived at the castle main gates, which parted to let us in. We took our time, strolling across the courtyard and around the central fountain which constantly spewed healing waters. The grand golden doors of the castle's entrance were all but easy to open, despite their impossible size. Inside, the castle was as quiet as a tomb, yet still as grand as a jeweled cave. The castle was practically built out of gold; silver torches lined the castle walls which were lit at night to give the night wanderers of the castle better vision.

Following the torches as our only source of light, I could clearly see that we passed by many well-decorated doors which most likely led into the knights' quarters, since the servants lived in an area near the castle and the soldiers lived in town, not usually inside the castle unless for training or for missions. With my brother still walking silently in front of me, we soon arrived at the king's throne room, which was unsurprisingly empty.

The throne room honestly was a great piece of art. It was the size of an average ballroom, but in the middle of the opposite wall was an elevated platform which was almost half as high as the room, staircase leading up and all. On that platform were three thrones, one for the king, one for the princess, and the last once belonged to the princess' late mother, or so I've been told. Just beside that elevated platform were two doors that seemed ridiculously tiny compared to the gigantic one I was standing in front of, the left led to the king's chambers while the right led to the princess'.

"Adrien, send the princess to her room then meet up with me at the king's chambers."

Once again, uttering not even the slightest of sounds, he simply walked over the ballroom-sized room and clicked open the door, walking into the princess' room where she would need to recuperate. Not waiting for him, I instead went into the opposite door, which led to the king's chambers. Inside, the king was unsurprisingly still awake, the only source of light was a lamp which was lit by candlelight. No sooner had I stepped onto the marble floor when the king bolted from his bed, launching his obvious question.

"How's my daughter?" He asked frantically and with an overflowing sense of concern in his voice, "Is she alright?"

"Yes, sire. Your daughter is safe and sound. She is now resting in her room as we speak. My brother should join us s-" Speak of the devil, I opened the door and saw my brother standing there with that utterly annoying emotionless expression plastered on his face.

"You have done well, Adrien and Dante Mercer, Vengeance and Mercy."

"One more thing, sire."

"Hmm? Please, go ahead and ask your question."

"Might I enquire as to what might be 'Transcendence'?"

It could've just been my imagination, but when I mentioned 'Transcendence', the king's stomach seemed to lurch forward, as if the word brought back horrible nostalgia. Either that, or Transcendence was something that was far too world-destructive to share with us.

"Transcendence… Why do you ask?" The king retorted.

"He shouted it," I pointed to the grovyle which was slung over my back and continued, "When a bright light erupted from him, he then used it to heal your daughter's injuries."

"I see… I'm afraid I am not at liberty to share it with you, not just yet. Bring Prial back to his room. He needs rest at the moment."

Knowing that the king wouldn't share anymore, I heeded his orders, exiting his room with Adrien behind me and closing the door after myself.

"I get the feeling that the king is hiding something." That was the first sentence he muttered since entering the castle.

"Perhaps. But we cannot question him at the moment. For now, all we can do is follow his orders and bring Prial back to his room."

"You do it; I'm heading back to sleep it off." With that, he used Mass Manipulation, converting biomass into his legs and ran at breakneck speeds down the hallway, where I knew our rooms in the castle were. Not rushing, I followed behind Adrien, albeit far behind, since Prial's room was in the same general direction as ours. Just before the intersection which broke up into four hallways, I saw the room that belonged to Prial, since it was marked as his. I opened the door, which was relatively difficult to do without Prial slipping off my back, and entered his room. I carefully dumped him on the bed, him already snoring soundly as he drifted into dreams. With still some time left, I decided to explore his room, which was completely different from ours.

His room had the basic layout of a knight's quarters, a bed that was made with the only finest materials, a bathroom, an extra room for us to do whatever, and a rack to carry weapons. Besides that, the extra room was covered in boards and chunks of papers that had been pinned up with who-knows-what. There was a board that had the entire map of Thysia pinned on it, with smaller boards around it carrying the individual maps of the four continents. Pieces of papers were fluttering on the floor, covered in handwriting that was far too difficult to read with my abilities. The most eye-catching thing there was some sort of study table and on it was a lamp, some writing materials, and a leather-bound book that just lay there.

Curiosity overcame me as I picked up the book and unstrapped it. Opening the book carefully, I snatched a quick glance at one of the middle pages. It read:

_**Day 578, 19**__**th**__** April**_

**It's been 578 days since I met Karina, and she gave me these temporal powers. Today was a relatively okay day, my brother and I ventured into the nearby forest, and found a whole lot of useful herbs that I could make some potions with. I'm good with herbs in that sense. The most exciting thing of our trip was that deep inside the forest, when my brother wasn't looking, I accidentally tripped and fell into a dark hole; no light was able to penetrate in. Without any other way, I went into the only possible exit, and I found myself in an unimaginable place. It was some sort of age-old castle, its walls were covered in moss and algae and its towers and structure was slowly crumbling away. Excitedly, I explored the interior of the castle, and did it surprise me. The more surprising thing is: When I got tired I sat down for a nap, and when I awoke Blaze was splashing my face with water. I realized that I was back where I started, and I wondered if the whole thing was a dream. Perhaps it was, then again, perhaps not.**

**-Prial Missile-**

_So… this is his diary? He even marks the number of days since he met the Keeper of Time, interesting._

I looked over at the conspicuous clock he had on the wall, and realized that it was already midnight; Adrien was expecting me. Frantically, but yet trying not to make a sound, I re-bound the diary, placed it on the table, and left without another word, carefully and silently closing the door behind me.

The End! Finally this chapter is done. I actually thought of ending this chapter with a cliffhanger, but then I thought that it may not be the best time to do that yet, so I scrapped the idea. I know you guys will be wishing for another The Existence Artifacts chapter, but like I said, I don't have any ideas at the moment, so you guys could expect it to be done in early-December or something. Until then, enjoy!

Debuted OCs:

Here's Alicia's, if you guys are interested:

Name: Alicia Nova

Second Name: Keyholder of Dimensions

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Species: Grovyle

Appearance: Alicia has the average build of a grovyle, and her irises are strikingly sky blue. She stands at about 169cm tall, just slightly shorter than Prial. She is often seen wearing a fancy dress inside the palace, but she is more comfortable wearing casual wear; which comprises of a amber T-shirt, a pair of azure jeans, and a pair of blue-lined shoes.

History: Alicia has been the princess of Oriental for as long as she has been alive, always getting whatever she wanted. But despite this, she is not a spoiled brat and cares about the lives of the other people living on the continent. It was at 5 years of age when Prial and Blaze were adopted into the Oriental Army and began training to become knights. Over the years, they have bonded, particularly between her and Prial, and thus they now share feelings for one another, only that they're both too afraid to admit it.

Soul Type: Gate Soul

Weapon Type: One-handed Sword

Weapon Name: Regret, Gate Piercer

Combat Class: Magic x Melee (She rarely uses the sword for combat, just for Regret)

Thysian Class: 3

Moves/Abilities:

Natural Abilities: Carte Vitis- Conjures leaves that are razor sharp to attack, and can be thrown as fast as cards.  
CV: Slice Throw- Throws a leaf at high speeds to strike one target.  
CV: Mille Bataille- Combines leaves and meld them into different types of weapons, which she can then use to attack.  
CV: Tempest Finale- Summons a whirlwind of razor sharp leaves to attack surrounding enemies and cut them down.

Combat Abilities: Infinity Pentacle- Conjures mana attacks from her hands to strike down her enemies.  
IP: Energy Spike- Causes a sudden rise in mana and concentrates it at one spot, causing a small rising explosion.  
IP: Arcane Energizer- Increases the effect of Soul and Magic abilities.  
IP: Mana Nirvana- The ultimate of Alicia's mana attacks, which causes the sky to blast an array of light beams onto the battlefield. However, this skill costs Alicia a lot of energy, and after this she can rarely continue fighting.  
Spatial Excalibur: Uses Regret and infuses it with her Soul to fight.  
SE: Gigas Wave- A wave of energy is emitted by the blade and sent flying to attack enemies.  
SE: Arc Splitter- Brings Regret on a downward strike with enough force to crack open even the toughest metal.  
SE: Silver Spline- Changes Regret's blade into a whip shape to reach far range enemies.

Soul Abilities: Spiral Gate- A series of skills in which she conjures gates to attack.  
SG: Gather- This gate allows her to store attacks in a different space, which she can then use it to attack.  
SG: Discharge- This gate allows her to unleash the attacks she has stored.  
SG: Pressure Field- Releases pressure by messing with the dimensional walls, forcing anyone in the field to be unable to utilize Soul.  
SG: Beast- Summons a monster that she has seen before to help her attack.  
SG: Link Array- A final spell that allows her to unleash random attacks of random elements without needing to store them. Costs a lot of energy.  
SG: Invoke- Conjures a large dimensional gate, which can be used to transport anything to a dimension where it will simply be voided. (Not for battle purposes)

Weapon Abilities: Dragon, Regret: Transforms her blade into a dragon called Regret, which has many skills to aid her in battle.  
Alliance Blessing: Uplifts allies' morale, increasing the effects of their skills and decreasing the toll of damage.  
Perfect Scales: Surrounds Alicia with an aura that allows Regret to guard any attack that comes her way for a set amount of time.  
Meteor Imprint: Calls a raining shower of meteorites that are covered in dragon fire, desolating the battlefield.  
Onyx Striker: Regret increases his speed exponentially, allowing him to bombard multiple enemies with charging strikes.  
Vortex Breath: Regret breathes dimensional flames, forcing anyone who touches it to become immobilized for at least a minute.

Alignment: StrikeForce

Strengths: She's very good at coming up with a plan, calm and calculating.

Weaknesses: She can be very short-tempered at times, though very easy to calm her down, you do not want to get in her way when she is mad.

Hobbies: Playing the flute, cooking for the team.

Quotes: Mhm… All your attacks are no use.  
What do you mean by that!?  
Do you want to die!? We have to come up with a plan!  
Planning may be the key to victory, but without action, a plan is just that, a plan.

[Credits to StylishDescent]:

Name: Adrien Mercer

Second name:

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Species: Servine

Appearance: Stands at 1.74m, Mercer has the average Servine build and wears a black hoodie with a pair of red wings as a design, grass green shirt underneath and black long pants. He also wears a pair of green sneakers. His red colored eyes are often the most visible facial features since his head is covered by the hood.

Personality: Adrien is a sociopath, cold, calculating and sardonic towards others. He is also an expert tactician in battle, not fully using his strength until he can figure out his opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Despite his cold nature, Adrien does take other pokemons' lives into account when he uses his unique Soul powers, which require biomass in order to perform. He would try to avoid using it if he could. Once you get to know him, Adrien is friendly and loyal, willing to protect his family and friends to the very end.

Family: Younger Dewott twin, Dante Mercer

History: When he was 16, his entire family was forcibly taken from their home along with many others by ChaosForce to be test subjects for a weaponized virus, codenamed "Vengeance". What ChaosForce did not expect was that while every other pokemon was killed by the Vengeance virus, the twins were the only ones to survive though they now had a one-of-a-kind Soul type each. After two years of tests by ChaosForce, the twins escaped and headed to Oriental where they decided to join the Army, hoping to put their new powers to good use.

Soul Type: Viral Soul

Weapon Type: A whip with a blade at the end. The whip appears to be part of his arm.

Weapon Name: Devil Bringer

Combat Class: Melee (though it can be used as mid ranged)

Thysian class: 3

Natural Abilities: Exceed Luminous (his unique biology allows him to infuse light into his attacks, improving their damage and speed. A gauge of three bars is found on his Devil Bringer. Adrien can charge the bars of light energy by absorb light or through Ex-Lux or Max-Lux)  
EL: Ex-Lux (During an attack, if Adrien uses his Exceed Luminous charge, he can regain one bar of light energy.)  
EL: Max-Lux (During the precise moment of the attack, Adrien can fully replenish his Exceed gauge if he charges during that moment.)

Combat Abilities: Demonic Arm (Adrien uses his whip-like arm as a weapon or grappling hook)  
DA: Slicer (Swings his whip downwards twice diagonally, one horizontally before a vertical slash finishes the combo)  
DA: Carnage (Swings his whip downwards twice diagonally and pauses for half a second, before he swings does an upward version of the first two swings and finishing with three graceful circular swings)  
DA: Shuffle (taking a side-step to avoid an attack, Adrien retaliates with a powerful swing)  
DA: Sky High (slams his whip down with enough force to lift him and up to three of his enemies into the air, only for the latter to be sent flying with a mid air swing)  
DA: Snatch (pulls in an unfortunate foe towards him. If the foe is too large for him to pull or if he targets a ledge, he is pulled towards said objects)

Soul Abilities: Biomass Control (Allows Adrien to use biomass and consume them, but he uses some of the moves out of desperation due to its brutal nature)  
BC: Consume (slamming his victim onto the ground, he brutally beats them into a bloody pulp before the victim is fully assimilated into his body, regenerating it. Memories of the consumed can be added to his own. He has a stealth version where he immediately takes on his disguised form after consuming from behind. Cannot do it on allies)  
BC: Disguise (take on the appearance of a biological creature he had recently consumed right up to genetic level, allowing him to infiltrate any places almost flawlessly)  
BC: Mass Manipulation (Controlling biomass to his muscles, he is capable of performing feats of unimaginable agility [during parkour or even running up sheer vertical walls]  
BC: Organic Grenade ("implants" a strain of his Vengeance virus into the skin of a target. Acting like a grenade, the body explodes and erupts biomass tendrils that impale nearby foes)

Weapon abilities: Sacrificial Destruction (using this "state", Adrien forcefully sacrifices his own biomass to unleash deadly AOE moves. His health decreases by a lot and can render him vulnerable to attacks)  
SD: Hell Vine Barrage (Adrien "explodes", erupting biomass similar to his Organic Grenade attack, but the tendrils retract to reform his body)  
SD: Viralized Orbital Drop (from a height of up to 50m, Adrien dive-bombs head first, impacting the ground and creating a viral shockwave that heavily wounds foes and temporarily enhances friends' abilities by tenfold. From the crater formed, Adrien drags himself out mostly covered in his own blood. Greater the height, more damage to foes and him, and longer the enhancing effect)

Alignment: StrikeForce

Strengths: Virally enhanced reflexes and agility means that he can do amazing parkour. Adrien is a tactical person and can analyze his situation very quickly, finding both friend and foe's strengths and weaknesses within a minute of looking at their abilities. He is also very willing to protect his friends.

Weaknesses: Lone wolf thanks to his abilities (he can unintentionally harm his friends due to the wide area attacks) and generally tough to work with unless you are Dante. Also vulnerable to attacks when absorbing memories (he clutches his head in pain while and stays in his current spot until he finishes the flashbacks).

Hobbies: Parkour

Quotes: Don't mind me, I'm just running up the walls of a building.  
I never liked consuming, but I will do so if it means keeping me and my friends alive.  
Can never hide your secrets once I eat you *reliving consumed memory*  
So many minds, all working and dying together... *when consuming too many creatures under a short period of time*  
Spare some DNA? Thanks. *stealth consuming to get into a ChaosForce high clearance area*  
Argh... gotta stop... doing that again... *using SDs*

[Once again, Credits to StylishDescent]:

Name: Dante Mercer

Second name:

Gender: Male

Age: 18

Species: Dewott

Appearance: Stands at 1.73m, Dante has the average build of a Dewott. He is most commonly seen wearing a white trench coat with a light blue shirt underneath, a pair of dark blue trousers and combat boots.

History: Similar to Adrien's. Instead of accepting the Vengeance virus like his twin, his body completely rejected it, creating a cure version called "Mercy" as a reference to his name.

Personality: Almost the opposite of Adrien, Dante is the outgoing, sociable and lively one of the twins. He often likes to crack jokes or give puns but will show seriousness occasionally, especially when it concerns telling others about the extent of their injuries since he is a medic. Dante does have a slight sadist side.

Soul Type: Curatio Soul (Cure Soul)

Weapon Type: Sword that appear to be based on a surgical knife, and seem to be part of his right arm. Two orb like structures determine its current form. The red one is the offense and supportive for blue)

Weapon Name: Precision

Combat class: Melee

Thysian class: 3

Natural Abilities: Heavenly Ice (now using the Mercy cure, he loses most of his ice based abilities but retained some)  
HI: Grace and Glory (summons one ice sword (Grace) that erupt from a foe's feet and sends it to the air. With an ice hammer (Glory) in hand, Dante jumps into the air and sends the victim back to earth with a downward swing)  
HI: Applaud (Creating multiple arm sized icicles, Dante impaled his foes in a quick but stylish manner, almost like a dance. After at least fifteen icicles later, he claps his hands and each icicle becomes spiked and impale the victim further)  
HI: Fearless (Type 1 creates a shield that negates all damage but slowly breaks down under continuous attack. Type 2 creates an impervious ice armor that protects Dante from all attacks but slows him down and causes him to be unable to use other HIs)

Combat Abilities: Curiato Striker (using the offensive version of his sword, the red orb glows eeriely and allow Dante to unleash a series of deadly attacks)  
CA: Perfect Slice (as a medic, precision is key and that serves as the basis for this attack and others as well. Preparing a slash in what he calls the Zanjutsu state, time appears to slow and his slashes cut a foe cleanly into pieces)  
CA: Deadly Disorder (Strikes a precise point of the body, and depending on the wound he does, organ failure, paralysis either temporary or permanent, internal bleeding or even instant death can be caused)  
CA: Bloody Finish (Dante runs past his foes and continuous slash, but the only thing that shows that his enemies are damaged is some blood on his blade. Whipping the blood of with a fluid motion, the reflection of the victims completely mutilated are seen on his blade.

Soul Abilities: Curiato Protector (a set of moves that sacrifice his health to heal others or speed up recovery. The blue orb glows brilliantly. Amount of health lost is dependent on the type of injury.)  
CP: Rejuvenating Soul (a passive move that allows constant and extremely quick healing)  
CP: Healing Slash (cuts the wound but does cause any pain. Instead, it numbs the injury and starts healing it rapidly. Used for smaller and less serious wounds)  
CP: Curing Shroud (Sacrifice a lot of health to create a shroud like gauze that wraps around large wounds and continually heal them. Water and fire resistant)  
CP: Divine Cure (rarely used, this ultimate healing can bring anyone who is at close death back to full health. But renders Dante very weak to the point he cannot even stand)

Alignment: StrikeForce

Strengths: Extremely quick regeneration to heal most forms of small injuries and increases his survival rate against stronger, heavier attacks. Most of his abilities are healing based, so he is a great supporting teammate. What he lacks in power is made up for precise strikes.

Weaknesses: Weak in attacks power-wise and since his healing abilities sacrifice health, can leave him very weak and vulnerable.

Hobbies: Annoying his brother, helping others with his healing abilities

Quotes: C'mon, don't be such a baby! I'm losing my own life just to help you heal!  
Just calm down will ya?  
I am not going to lie, *starts explaining how serious the injury is*.  
What? I CAN die, just very hard to put me six feet under!  
How would you want me to kill you: a quick painless death, or slow and painful torture?

See ya next chapter!~


End file.
